there was so much character development this season! And we see that Snotlout's emotional maturity bloom, I love it so much! Do you think Astrid has anger issues? (Or at least, has very unsafe ways of expressing her anger)
Great character development indeed! Loved it too!
Yes, I do believe that one of Astrid’s personality flaws is her temper. While it makes decent sense to snap at a man obnoxiously flirting with her and ignoring her rejections, she also does physically throw Snotlout on multiple occasions. She points her axe at him at multiple occasions. I would say that’s an unsafe way of expressing anger!
More telling, though, is Astrid’s instant reaction when Hiccup shows promise in Dragon Training. Anger. She is angry both when she thinks Hiccup is not taking training seriously enough, and when he starts besting her at her own strengths. She angrily trains harder and harder and treats their interactions with hostility. The seriousness of fighting her parents’ war, the frustration of being bested, and the intensity of competitiveness… this can’t erase the fact we see Astrid seriously, chronically angry.
Of course she’s not always angry. She can be sweet and silly, too. But when the anger arises, it belies internal weakness. Astrid often responds to feeling insecure by emitting rage. Fright of Passage shows Astrid raging because of Fearless Finn Hofferson’s backstory and how it degraded her family’s reputation. She’s insecure about her family’s poor reputation. It’s not so far an interpretation to say that maybe she was so fierce and serious in the first movie’s Dragon Training because she wanted to prove this Hofferson could properly, bravely, respectably, talentedly fight Berk’s battles! Hiccup treating Dragon Training without proper seriousness would therefore be frustrating to her because of how much her family got grilled for their mistakes in the war. Hiccup besting her at Dragon Training would be frustrating to her because she needs to prove her worth.
So she shows anger for unhealthy emotional reasons! And anger will not cure these emotional struggles.
Astrid does grow. She is more willing to show herself as vulnerable by her late teens. We see her wear her heart on her sleeve in episodes like “Astrid’s Team” and “Sandbusted.” She’s handling her struggles more healthily and maturely - though it is to note she still has room to improve!
